Fears of brutal Chinese cult gaining ground in Australia
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The Church of Almighty God or Eastern Lightning in Australia has been branded evil by the Chinese government. According to Sydney-based pastor Andrew Hong, the cult has been creating alarm among church leaders.

NT News

21 Aug 2014

News

Zhang Lidong has been charged with intentional homicide for beating a woman in McDonald’s. Pic: Screengrab, BBC. Source: Supplied

A BRUTAL cult branded “evil” by the Chinese government is operating in Australia.

That’s according to Sydney-based pastor Andrew Hong who said Eastern Lightning — also known as Church of Almighty God — has been creating “alarm” among church leaders.

“They’ve changed the name — but yes they’re operating here. Not in my church but in other churches here,” he told news.com.au.

“It’s very popular because they basically talk to people who have some experience of Christianity and say ‘we can promise you freedom from sin’ but it actually ends up enslaving people to a cult. While it has some similarities with Christianity it’s really nothing of the sort.”

University of Melbourne academic Emily Dunn has written a thesis on the organisation and said there was a distinct difference between their online presence and what some members did in real life.

“The incident in McDonalds would fall into that category. If you look at Eastern Lightning’s website they say the Chinese authorities can’t prove that person was associated with the Church of the Almighty God ... It’s a conspiracy fabricated by the government to justify a crackdown on us.”

Footage of the incident at a McDonald’s in China.Source: Supplied

Membership is said to be up to one million and the group was thought to be behind the kidnapping of 35 members of an evangelical Christian group, 12 years ago, according to the South China Morning Post.

Reports of beatings, harassment and aggressive proselytising are also common.

The group has tried to establish a foothold in the US, Hong Kong and Korea before.

However Ms Dunn said their efforts may have been hampered by greater religious freedom in these countries.

“They haven’t had much success outside mainland China. I suppose you could speculate that’s because there’s greater freedom of religion generally so it might make it harder for Eastern Lightning to operate,” she said.

The Church of the Almighty God has failed to respond to news.com.au’s request for comment.

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